Fading Away
by FrozenLemonade
Summary: A failed jutsu attempt led Naruto to being stranded in the past. With the Third Secret Shinobi War still raging and his father alive, could he bring himself not to interfere with the history? But no such jutsu without consequences, he had to pay a very high price. TimeTravel!
1. Chapter 1

**Fading Away**

Disclaimer: I was born on the same year as this manga's publication.

No one in his right mind would say Naruto was a patient boy. But he was more stubborn than he was impatient. This led him to his studying the art of sealing, trying to prove them wrong. Even idiots could master it if they tried enough, he shouted to Tsunade-baachan's face. And with that determination, after the end of Fourth Secret Shinobi War, Naruto began his research on this subject. It was thousand times harder without the aid of a sealing master but Naruto wasn't Naruto if he backed up from a challenge.

And that was why, these months no one had seen hide nor hair of his. He had sealed a year amount of instant ramen cups into a scroll, went into the restricted area of library of Konoha, and succumbed himself into his attempt to invent a new jutsu.

He clutched the brush in his fingers. Ever so graceful, he guided it, danced across the surface. The tip swayed right, left, up, left, down, right. _Shrek, shrek_ each stroke so wickedly precise Naruto couldn't afford making any mistake. A mistake could mean a life lost. Or worst, destruction of the physical body of the user that was too censored to the ear of kids.

A wide grin broke on his face as he applied the last stroke. Naruto's posture leant closer, azure eyes narrowed as he assessed his masterpiece. His fingers tingled across the result of months' sleepless night and blood and sweat. _Perfect._

He leapt up from his chair, ignoring the thudding sound of abused chair. Hell, even if the hell broke loose now he couldn't care less. He danced around the room, almost knocked a cup of rotten ramen onto his work of genius. The wood creaked mournfully beneath his body weight, too loud for ninja's standard. But devil might give a damn. His grin widened, as if it was possible. Fingers halted at exact places. He sent a pulse of chakra to them experimentally. Blue chakra flared to life. The seal glowed a blinding light, engulfing the whole of Naruto.

'Crap' was his only thought. And the world succumbed to darkness.

He groaned painfully as he opened his eyelids, flinching at the blinding light. Heaving to sitting position, Naruto blinked rapidly. His whole body aching, his lung was on fire courtesy to the chilly air. His azure eyes darted around. And what he saw puzzled him even more.

Rock, rock, rock, and rock. A never ending sight of rocks met his eyes._ 'Iwa'_, his mind quickly supplied the word.

The ground was too bone shattering, in his humble opinion. His fingers scrubbed the humid ground as a proof he wasn't dreaming. And that, unfortunately yes, it was real. He was just resided by the side of a curvaceous mammoth-sized stone, straw-colored. To someone like he, who had spent whole his life a midst the evergreen Fire Country, the scenery was an eyesore. And very damn boring. Aside the lack of aesthetic value of Iwa…

A whistle of wind caught his attention. He dodged a kunai straight to his spine with ease, wondering who would assault him. Iwa nin? impossible. Last time he checked, Konoha and Iwa were in a ceasefire for a decade. But this was Iwa. Missing-nin? probably, if they were desperate enough. "Who are you?" a harsh voice assaulted his hearing. Not really surprised, from his peripheral vision he eyed the Iwa nin bored. How could someone of Jounin rank didn't recognize a would-be kage? A kage from one of the big five countries, nonetheless.

"Well…" he turned to get a better a view of the uninvited guests. A bald, sturdy-looking man with funny moustache and Iwa head band strapped on his upper arm, a slender brunette kunoichi without remarkable features except exceptionally huge breasts, and an insecure looking, thin redhead man. The later darted his eyes around occasionally, as if expecting being attacked every single damn second.

At the sight of the blond, the baldy gaped like a sushi fish, slanted grey eyes bulged to the size of a plate."K… Konoha's Yellow Flash! Report to Tsuchikage, idiot! Run!" _what?_ He could fathom no one would be welcoming to an S-rank shinobi running around his or her country. But…

They were about to shunshin away he created some bunshin. The bunshin caught their wrist, effectively aborted their departing. Even the idiot knew, assaulting shinobi from allied country in their own territory was asking for wars. But we're talking about Naruto Uzumaki, whose life motto was consequences be damned. Satisfied, he rose to his feet and patted the dust off his clothes. Letting the frightened nin struggled in futile attempt to escape. Eventually, Sai's lesson of effective human strangling proved its benefit, he mused. Back to current situation, he frowned, "Konoha's Yellow Flash? What do you mean? What is happening here?" his tone betrayed none of his bewilderment.

The Iwa nin's blank faces mocked him in return.

"Well? Or you'd rather be strangled for the rest of the day?"

If he wasn't a Jinchuuriki, he'd have cringed at the amount of hatred in their eyes. "Shut up! Kill us already!" one of them, apparently the captain spoke. His moustache quivered comically Naruto almost laughed.

Naruto tilted his head curiously. What the fuck had happened when he was unconscious? Did his seal have anything to do with this? "But I'm just asking—"

"Damn, we have nothing to tell you! Die!"and he spit on Naruto's face. Instead of saliva, a mud bomb stuck and exploded to his face. Naruto screamed and he was no more. The man smirked in smug satisfaction, daydreamed about how he would be rewarded, before he froze. The kagebunshin didn't expel. Which only meant one thing.

"That's very rude of you, shithead," a voice, barely concealed the annoyance was heard. Naruto hopped into the scene. What the fuck is happening here?" After all, patience wasn't his greatest trait.

A few minutes of coaxing the nin to spit the truth, he realized they were as stubborn as rock. Hell, even if he threw them into the pit of the hell, he doubted they would give in. Besides, he had no knack for interrogating. And torture disgusted him, the ever master of talk no jutsu. Why bother, when you could talk them to change their mind?

He grunted miserably, "You're soooo impossible! What's wrong with you?" he was about to continue his ranting about how miserable life was when his ears picked a noise. Approximately five kilometres to the west, eight people were moving at the speed 46km/h heading his way. He pursed his lips, annoyed that he still had many unanswered questions. It wasn't like he was asking about anything classified anyway. He left with a quick shunshin, ignoring the perplexed nin who suddenly bunshin-free.

Time to came back home.

* * *

Shizue Momoka had a bad day. She didn't know what she had done to offense deities up there, really. It started innocently enough; her team, consisted of four shinobi and a medic nin of Leaf was sent on a mission to guard a group of merchants heading to Konoha. Usually, it was C-ranked. But considering the merchant's goods were one of the reasons of Konoha's continuing life, Iwa would more than willing to take them down at the first opportunity. It was then an A-rank mission with C-rank's payment.

She didn't count they would be daring enough to ambush in Konoha territory. Although they were in the Hi no Kuni, which made the odds against Iwa, it didn't help that each time they took down an Iwa nin, there would be two or three to substitute their fallen comrade. They were completely outnumbered by Iwa force. Not to mention three of her teammates had fallen and the last one was barely breathing. Her death gate was drawing near.

This realisation made a cold feeling crept up her chest, she fought the urge to immediately fall down the ground joining her other fellows. Regardless her feeling, she still had a village – precious people to protect. She moved, but it felt like as if it wasn't she who commanded her body. Her head felt too light, she had to vomit. She… what will happen to her children? She knew the fate of those war orphans, where the country was too busy to repair the economical damages to take a good care of them.

She slashed three Iwa nin's jugulars in a move, watched them falling down with glazed eyes. Her kids back home would be orphaned. Five Iwa kunoichi took the death shinobi's place. Perhaps there wouldn't be any maternal figure to them again. They assaulted with doton technique, which she countered with a wind one. Her eldest daughter mentioned her wish to become a kunoichi, she wondered it would come true. She combined a water technique and a lightning one, instantly paralyzed the five of them. Her little son, too naïve and trusting, didn't fit in the cruel world, she wished she could protect him. Her instinct screamed at her, she turned to see a chokutou straight to her throat.

Too late. A screamed echoed among the trees. She watched with fascination, and mostly, dumb-struck. One second her assailant stood with a smug face, a second later he dropped to the ground, a kunai in his upper thigh and in his stomach; intestine gushed out. He moaned and hissed, blinded by the overwhelming pain, slowly drifting into painful death. She turned to her savior, fixed him with an awe-struck gaze. Blond hair, azure eyes… it couldn't be…

"A nice chokotou, eh?" he said, eyed the chokutou about to be Shizue's dead judge longingly. He recalled Sasuke's fondness of its kind. He shot the Leaf kunoichi his trademark grin and threw the sheathed chokutou to her. "Take care."

"Wait—!" she called out. He was long gone by then.

One thing preventing Naruto from going all frenzy, breaking a pandemonium, and kidnapping a grandmother was the scent of the forest. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the soothing scent of home. Hi no Kuni was enormously distinguishable from the other ordinary ones. You could almost convince yourself, if you had listened attentively enough, you could hear the beating of the heart of the forest.

He allowed himself to relax as he was away from the battlefield. His back leant against a tree Shikamaru-ishly. He closed his eyes, letting himself drowned in his own thoughts.

The entire situation was… weird. He would know if there was a war, preoccupied with seal-making or not. But, no, no, he one day woke up in Iwa and attacked by a group of Iwa nin. On his trip back home, he occasionally met fights here and there. Not the one to stand idle watching his comrades falling, of course he helped. And by the word 'help', I mean 'sweeping whole the enemy squadrons in the matter of seconds' before resuming his journey. He was against killings, but if that meant the lives of his comrades, he didn't mind. He had since long accepted the fact kill or be killed.

Even worse, he didn't know for how long he had been out. Tsunade-baachan would be beyond pissed. He could only hope there would be a mercy upon him, and her castrating threat all of this time was a bluff. But, knowing her, it sounded wrong.

One second he was sitting on cold ground, pondering the safety of his manhood, a second later a metal pressed against his throat. Naruto blinked, processing the development of events. He looked up and saw golden locks of hair.

"State your business here," a voice, ever so calm in his ear.

Naruto vanished into the thin air. Kagebunshin, the stranger realized. A heartbeat later, he appeared behind the uninvited guest, a kunai against the man's throat. The man could somehow _almost _undetected by his acute senses, but Naruto wasn't a week from seeing his face on the Hokage Mountain for nothing.

"Cute isn't it," the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki mused aloud. "Why, tell me first. Who are you?" attacking a would-be Kage of five elemental countries was fucking foolish.

If the unknown specimen of male was surprised, he said nothing. The man disappeared out of existence, to which Naruto almost whistled to, and materialized somewhere on the tree. Naruto was impressed, really. No one could move that fast alive save the Yondaime Raikage and him since… the demise of a specific blond Kage.

A hail of kunai flew towards Naruto, which he easily dodged. He didn't count the assailant would hiraishin'd to one of the kunai and swiped an atrocious kick to his spine. Almost. Naruto blocked the kick with his hand, retaliated with a chop to the man's solar plexus. Before they made skin-contact, the man again disappeared and reappeared behind him, a three prolonged kunai in his hand. The assailant made a slashing motion, which would have slit his spine hadn't Naruto ducked. All of this was in mere seconds, and to the spectacles, would be no more than blurs of yellow. Naruto retreated farther across the clearing, getting a better view of the impudent attacker.

At the sight of the man, the whiskered blond froze. All of his previous thoughts evaporated. He struggled to get back his bearing, couldn't afford to show vulnerability there. Sun-kissed lock of hair, azure eyes like ones he saw in mirror every day, and Konoha headband.

He gapped. He stared.

It somehow resulted in a staring contest.

Minato fidgeted internally albeit putting on an indifference front. He was used to the look of awe, of fear, of respect, even the look of hatred. Damn, even the deathliest of the deathliest glare laced with killing intent didn't unnerve him that much. Honestly, the look on the young boy's face was nothing against the deathliest of the deathliest glare he ever received, yet it was… disconcerting.

It was the 'WTF, a ghost' look, shock, and something else. Something he didn't have enough ball to put a finger on.

Whatever. The threat somehow succeeded to infiltrate the border. He needed to interrogate and eliminate it soon. The threat was good, he had to admit. Anyone on par with Konoha's Yellow Flash, who had annihilated squadrons of Iwa nin single-handedly in matter of seconds, was… inadvisable to have in your territory.

"Kai," the stranger now christened 'threat' sent one hell pulse of chakra, immediately putting Minato on guard. He knitted his brows at the desperate look on the threat's face. "Kai!" it cried, this time louder.

The intensity of chakra almost froze the unsuspecting blond. The previous wave of chakra was a miniscule compared to this one. Their surrounding was hushed to an eerie silence, poor tree leaves withered and crumbled to dust. Minato instinctively took a defensive stance, absently noting how the chakra was warm and corrosive at the same time. It was as if trying to erase the world. He didn't know what made it think it was in a Genjutsu. But he needed to stop the threat immediately.

What troubled him was that his cute, adorable team was nearby. They no doubt had taste the numbing pressure of chakra. Hopefully they would grow a brain or two and flee at the first opportunity. Away from the hard reality of war, now from the unidentified threat with unknown capabilities. But, heck, no. They naively believe their Jounin sensei would always be there; dispose of any enemies, keeping them safe and nice. His invincibility was a fraud, you know.

As quick as it came, the pressure was gone. Seemingly, the threat had regained his composure. It grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of its head with gesture uncannily similar to him. "So…" it trailed off, breaking the silence. The Konoha's Yellow Flash tensed, expecting it to spew a killing blow. "Who are you?"

"Leaf Jounin Minato Namikaze, ID Number: 23091675862," he replied flatly. "State your identification and your intention. You, apparently a nin, have broken the regulation, pass through the Leaf's border without alerting the authority."

Its eyes widened noticeably at the mention of his name, the only normal reaction he got from it so far. The mention of his name alone would trigger fear from even the shinobi of shinobi. With a good reason, though. His moniker and the flee-on-sight order weren't for nothing, he would humbly admit. And its reaction to his name wasn't anything he wasn't used to. Though why would a shinobi its calibre cower at his name, he didn't comprehend.

The threat took an offensive stance. "You're an impostor," assessed it, confident in every fiber of its stature. "Who are you truly?"

Minato frowned internally at the enigmatic threat. How so he was an impostor of himself? More importantly, why would it was so convinced he wasn't himself? Disguising as Minato Namikaze, apart from the benefit of flee-on-sight order plastered on his face, was dangerously foolish. It was like putting a 'kill me, I'm delicious' sign on the folly. "Why would you think so?"

"Because you're dead."

If he wasn't the Konoha's Yellow Flash, his eyes would have twitched visibly. _A death threat? _"Really? I'm as nice as alive," before he finished his sentence, he reappeared behind the threat, a three prolonged kunai in his hand. The threat in a heartbeat strode across the clearing, again facing him with ease. It was disturbing. No one he ever met, especially younger than he was, was faster than him. And it clearly was, without utilizing chakra to enhance its speed moreover.

"You… dad? But, how?" Minato watched the perfect epitome of self-control collapsed to pieces before him, emotions naked before his eyes. He gagged on the overwhelming sentiment; as confused as the threat was.

It was as if they had known each other for ever. And Minato didn't like it. It was too… weird.

Besides, last time he checked, he was a celibate. And had yet been active sexually.

"It's Minato Namikaze," _not your father._

"You're… the Yondaime?" _what? _"But! It can't be! How can you be here? It… you…"

Taking an advantage of the moment of vulnerability, Minato chopped the back of its neck. It fell with a thud like a broken puppet.

Leaving Minato alone with the chirping bird and the whistling wind and some awaiting students.

He sighed, suddenly feeling a thousand year burdens on his shoulder. He kneeled by the unconscious enigma, never letting his guard down, expecting it suddenly leaping up and attack. He reached for his kunai, calculative azure eyes on the threat. A movement and the threat would have died of slit across the throat. It was his luck; the enigmatic 'thing' was too dangerous, he doubted he would get opportunity like this next time. Displaying weaknesses before a mortal danger wasn't an everyday occurrence. To tell the truth, 'it' probably even stronger than he was. And anything – anyone on par with Konoha's Yellow Flash was… a drag. They were about to be the victor of the war. He couldn't afford letting 'it' alive.

But he would not, no, frankly, could not just murder 'it' in cold blood. Perhaps the cowardice of the action bothered him. Not so, he was a ninja, not a samurai. Or he somehow felt a pang of pity – but why would he? He, who had massacred thousands of Iwa nin relentlessly, wouldn't suddenly pity a 'it' he barely knew.

He might regret this later.

His grip on the kunai tightened, still by the throat. Uncertainty killed him inside. Seconds passed and his eyes gleamed with newborn determination. Sighing dejectedly, he removed the kunai and returned it to his pouch.

His lithe fingers across the sun-burnt skin, and swirls of black waltzed on it. Chakra suppression sealing, check. Paralysis sealing, check. Satisfied with the results, he slung the threat on his shoulder. All he needed was to take it to Konoha and let the T&I department babysit it.

* * *

"So," Obito began, tried to poke the unconscious blond. "Who is he, sensei?"

A certain silver-haired boy snorted. "He's apparently a captive. What's with your so almighty eyes?"

The Uchiha glared at the prick. The topic was a sensitive one to him and that wretch had no right to bring it up. "I meant, why you don't just kill him if he is an enemy?"

"He infiltrates the border, taking him as a captive and interrogate him is the regular procedure."

"It's very unheard of you don't even know that."

"Bastard. Just wait! I'll awake my sharingan and you," he pointed at the uninterested boy. "Will kneel by my feet and call me Lord Hokage Uchiha-sama!"

"Dream on, sissy."

"Boys, stop it," Rin pipped in desperately. The boys just couldn't coexist. "Obito, don't cuss. And leave Kakashi alone. Kakashi too…"

Obito pouted, mood dampened at Rin's obvious biased judgment. He knew she tried to be as subtle as possible. After all, Obito was a close friend to her. But still…

Ever an optimist, he got the perfect idea. He knew this would work."Watch out, Hatake! Eat my newest original jutsu!" he shifted through some hand seals. "Fire release: great eternal fireball sidekick phoenix genjutsu…"

A hand caught his wrist, halting him from spewing his most awesome jutsu, which will beat crap out of the prick and make Rin instantly swoon all over him…

"Well, aren't you going too far, Obito?" he scowled at his smiling sensei. He knew, the blond was actually amused at their actions, laughing at them behind their back.

"Don't you want to see my newest, original, awesome jutsu, Minato-sensei?" he hastened his pace to match the blond's own, eyed the captive absently. "It's a fire element based jutsu, awesome right? So, don't you want to, sensei?"

Minato chuckled, ruffled his cute student's hair with his threat-free hand. Yeah, an optimist indeed. "Why not?" his eyes became stern. "But not on your teammate. What did I say about teamwork?"

"Teammates depend on and trust their lives with each other. I know! Errr… sorry, sensei," Obito turned gloom, or at least gloomier than his usual self Minato wondered he had been too harsh on him. "But! Back home then, you're gonna gaping at the awesomeness of my newest original jutsu!" Obito enthusiastically punched the air with his fist.

"Yeah, a lame flashy jutsu," said Kakashi.

"What! It's not!"

"The name's too excessive it's inefficient. Besides, what can possibly someone like you invent?"

Obito frowned. "You're just jealous."

Minato sighed inaudibly. It was a long day, indeed. "Now, now… Kakashi, don't ridicule your teammate. Obito is a formidable nin for a chuunin. Right, Obito?"

Obito puffed with pride. "Yeah! Eat it, Kakashi!"

"Sensei, you're being too soft to Obito. See, he almost got us failed missions these days."

"Am not! Better than you, rule-lover freak!"

"Do you know shinobi rule 25? We shouldn't show tears during mission. You will give Leaf nin a bad name."

"Quit it, boys. Please, we are a team, right?" Rin turned to her most adored sensei. "Minato-sensei, when will we reach Konoha?"she said in attempt to divert the conversation.

The jounin sensei hummed thoughtfully. "See… in about two hours."

"Oh."

And they fell into comfortable silence. The team continued their journey back home, until uncharacteristically, it was Kakashi to break the silence. "Actually, I've been thinking…" he said, onyx eyes on the captive. Minato leaned closer. It was rare for the pipsqueak Hatake to voice his thought. Rin turned to her crush curiously while Obito pretending not-too-interested._ If the prick had anything to be said, of course, it was nothing important! _With the thought, he suddenly found the line of trees fascinating. "Didn't he," he referred to the threat, "the one who send that pulse of chakra?"

Obito looked at Kakashi weirdly, not really understand what he was implying.

"How could you get out there without a fight, Minato-sensei?" Rin said, seeing Kakashi's point. Minato-sensei's cloth was too clean for a vicious aftermath's victim. "I mean, you're tough. But he's not bad, too, right?"

What a nice understatement of the century.

A smiled bloomed on Minato's lips. Again, his favourite female student showed her perceptiveness. "Good question, my little ones," Kakashi twitched at that, "We just need to take advantages of the enemies." _yeah, he called me dad beforehand. What's wrong with him?_

"Hey, Minato-sensei's just that great, you know? A little shrimp like him can't compare to sensei," Obito complained.

Much to Rin's headache, the bickering continued until the glimpse of Leaf's main gate was seen.

* * *

His head throbbed. No, I'm not insinuating anything. His head where his brain resided did throb. Irritation was an understatement to his mood. He was downright pissed, both at himself and a specific person. It was ridiculous of him, acting like a hormone-driven teenager in front of his father. It wasn't funny, you know. The man would think very low of him now. Besides, if what he had seen spoke for anything, Minato Namikaze wasn't anyone good. He was a living legend, yes, but nothing about his personality was fascinating. Nothing like what the textbook said, 'loving and friendly Hokage'. Perhaps it was just because he was an 'enemy'. Perhaps it came with the age.

But, if there was one thing Naruto hates, it'd be people judging others too quickly. Just like what the villagers did to him years ago. Besides, he was in no place to judge. No one was perfect, right? He'd be as good as dead now if Minato wished for his death when he was out cold.

The room wasn't made for comforting purposes; the plain grey stone wall, the room size he had to curl to a fetus position if he wished to lay, the floor the heaven of bacteria and varieties of fungus. Not to mention the poor lightning and ventilation. In other word, woe was he.

With an exaggerated sigh, he leant against the cold stone wall laced with seals. Seals to restrain a seal master. What a joke. Throw a kunai at a weapon master and expect what. He could very well escape the place, but that'd betray the portrait of an ally he was eager to give.

"Come on, just a bowl of miso ramen! There's no harm right?" he pleaded. "It has been two days since the last time I devoured the heavenly taste."

The prisoner guard eyed him with wary onyx eyes. "No."

"That's mean! Please, just a bowl and I'll be quiet!"

"Hn."

That was nostalgic. Uchiha's trademark grunt and that raven spiky hair…

Now he thought of it, everything did make a sense to him. The hostile Iwa nin mistaking him with someone else, his father alive, and all of the war-torn places. What they implied didn't amuse him at all, but at least it did make a sense.

He, somehow traveled to the past. The past where his father was alive and the Third Secret Shinobi War was still raging.

He screwed everything.

More importantly…

_'Kurama?'_

Silence answered him.

_'Kurama? Are you there?'_ the creature adamantly kept the silence treatment. _'Helloooooo…! I'm sorry I screwed. But please, it's not funny! Grunt if you're there… hello?"_

Uneasiness crept its way up his chest. Thousands of 'what if' situations flashed in his mind. He loathed silence, very damn much. Where was Kurama anyway? It was unnatural for him to keep silent. He always leapt at the first chance to talk, even though it usually about how he despise humankind. What if, what if, what if.

He went into his mindscape. As his feet touched the watery ground, he rushed to everywhere. The empty, opened jail, the rooms, the corridor. His heart thumped madly against his chest he almost suspected it echoed in the sewer. Kurama should be there, like always. Taunting him, mocking humans' foolishness, sulking about how the greatest Youko shrank this low. They'd never been separated, and would never be. _Please, please, please!_

The realization hit him, harder than his liking. Kurama was gone. He was left in the past where he was no one but nuisance. And he had no idea how to come back to his 'present'.

The most important thing was… again, he had to fight alone. He hated being alone, he despised silence; he couldn't bear having no one. He doubted he could see the bubble gum haired Sakura, with painful fists and beautiful smile. Or Sai, the official socially inept weirdo of his generation. Hell, he even began to miss his blunt, embarrassing statements. Or Kakashi-sensei, the giggly pervert; Yamato-taicho, Tsunade-baachan, Shizune-neechan, Lee, TenTen, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru…

Everyone was so precious. And with his foolishness, he lost them all in a blink of eyes.

He had been very calm since he was stranded in the strange land. Even if he had no one, but at least he still had Kurama. The prankster side of him thought, perhaps, he could enjoy this whole charade. But now… it was all just a wishful thinking.

It made him wants to cry and laugh at the irony at the same time. At the mention of crying, his optimistic part kicked in, albeit a bit forced. Hell, he was Naruto Uzumaki. His oath to himself was he would never cry anymore. Weeping over the death of Jiraiya, that bloody super pervert was enough. Crying might be a human's nature, but not necessarily needed. And if you forget, Naruto didn't break promises.

Or so he told himself.

"Are you there?" he snapped out of his reverie, eyes meeting with the sight of fidgeting prisoner guard. Usual Naruto was shit annoying, but silent Naruto was… creepy, you know?

"It's nothing! You see, this cold prisoner makes me miss my friends. Back home, I always…" Naruto began his rambling about everything and nothing, to the guard's annoyance and relief. But mainly, it was for himself. Distracting himself from the cruel truth.

Honestly, what should he do? Naruto loved spotlight, yes. Not being in the center of conflicts made him wanting to murder something. But changing things back here was reckless and dangerous. His 'present' could as well being erased by his stupidity. Despite the death, the struggles… but in the end, it was all right, well? He was about to became the Rokudaime Hokage, Konoha was colourful and livelier than ever. All of his precious people save Neji were there, supporting him. It was so dreamlike, felt like too good to be true.

Perhaps… it was mere a dream. And now he woke up, finding out that he had always been lonely.

Perhaps, he never left the pit of loneliness after all.

Rattling of chain caught his attention. Naruto lifted his head up as another guard approaching, who looking at him with 'all-business-babe' face. "Someone wishes to meet you." _'your interrogating session commences.'_

Even at that kind of situation, a flash of memory of a certain head interrogator with eagerness to intimidate people… played through and through in his mind. Not even the most insane people could claim that was a happy memory.

Uh, oh. A long day, indeed. First, he needed an alias name…

* * *

He creased his brow, tapping his temple repetitiously as he was in deep thought. His hat shadowed over his features, making his expression more unreadable. Not that just anyone could read through the professor. A small gesture and Minato knew, Hiruzen had made up his mind. "You claim this Uzu Hikaru is a more capable nin than you are, Minato?" he said that more as a statement than it was a question.

Minato stood straighter. "That's a probability, Hokage-sama. We still don't have access with his full potential but from what I have witnessed, he is faster than I am."

A fatherly smile marred Hizuren's feature. "From the interrogation session, he mentioned his wish to join Konoha's shinobi rank," his tone was light and apologetic, but his eyes said otherwise. Minato tensed at this statement, not liking the direction of this conversation. "I, as Sandaime Hokage announced, he thereby will be referred as Chuunin Hikaru Uzu of Leaf. Am I clear?"

Minato closed his eyes. This better not where he thought it would lead. It was all so wrong, or rather, this was not Konoha's method at all. "May I speak freely, Hokage-sama?"

Hizuren chuckled mirthlessly. Namikaze, perceptive as ever. It was nearly impossible to withhold information from the youth without his sniffing around the skeleton in the closet. "Yes?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Hizuren puffed from his pipe, watching the chain of smoke fading away. "A month, Minato. We need a month to let him drop his guard," he paused, letting the innuendo seeped into the youth's mind. "Your mission parameter is… to eliminate Uzu Hikaru."

* * *

Author's Note: It's the first FanFiction I've ever written. And as much as I like to think I beg to differ, acknowledgement is an important factor of the continuation of my existence. That's why, any reviews; never mind if they are compliments, critiques, supports, or flames will be treasured. But it doesn't necessarily mean I'll take any suggestions into consideration.

I'm quite aware of how this TimeTravel genre is quite common and unoriginal at all. But that doesn't stop me from writing this. I've quite decent quantities of ideas in my little pathetic mind, but my vocabulary sucks. Pouring ideas into words is mind boggling. I'll do my best to make this as original as possible while appeasing _me_ at the same time.

As a teenager, I'm DOWNRIGHT against romance, so don't expect me writing anything along the lines. there would be one-sided MinaNaru however. Naruto, dense as ever, never realised it. Minato neither, since he was too preoccupied with his paranoia. The end of the story.

You may later notice how I portray Minato not as the saviour of the day, rather, a calculative, aloof, possessive, manipulative, deceptive, and paranoid bastard. No, he is not evil. His loyalty to Konoha is unquestioned, and that was his only reason for his against the death sentence of Naruto. Frankly, he hated Naruto since the first time they met. But feelings aside, had Naruto proven his loyalty to Konoha, he'd be very 'useful'.

Ja ne!


	2. Chapter 2

**Fading Away**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to say it twice?**

**A/n: You guys rock! Thanks for the reviews! Although I can't PM each of you, they really really mean a lot to me. **

**I notice there are some questions though…**

**1. ****How does Naruto move faster than the freaking Konoha's Yellow Flash without the aid of our Kyuubi no Youko? (scratch the 'Youko'. Everyone here agree he's no more than overgrown furball and he has to get along with it).**

**A: It's been years since the Canon – something he learns on the way to the Hokage's hat? I'll explain in future chapter. And don't you think it's quite embarrassing, surpassing the Yondaime with the assistance of… other source? I mean, yes, Kurama was a part of Naruto. But still, it feels like cheating.**

**2. ****Is Naruto going to be Hokage again— in the past?**

**A: Nope. Naruto doesn't stand a chance against our lovely Yondaime Hokage.**

**3. ****Pairing?**

**A: I'm so sorry I disappoint you. Yes, Minato was going to have a little one-sided crush on our main character here. But no way in the hell they're going to act all lovey dovey. In fact there won't be any romance at all. Naruto perceives Minato with admiration, either as a son or as a big fan of Yondaime Hokage. And Minato himself, somehow as dense as Naruto (genetic trait?), doesn't and won't ever ever realize it.**

**4. ****Naruto's reunion with Kurama?**

**A: Soon enough. I'm not going to dismiss him entirely from this story, considering he is a big part of Naruto's life.**

**5. ****Character developments?**

**A: I believe trust and affection are gained through time, patience, and hard work (except motherly love). Complete trust or affection on strangers one barely meet over five minutes is… too idealist? Ridiculous? Unrealistic?**

* * *

If we asked Naruto to define his greatest satisfaction, the answer would be the invention of ramen. He was satisfied right now, with full belly and going somewhere but the fungus covered cell, if a bit sleep deprived. He had asked for five bowls of ramen before the interrogation sessions, to which they grudgingly complied. Of course they didn't get anything useful from him, besides that he was Uzu Hikaru, refugee from a small country and twenty two years old. He lied, but seriously, what could he say? _'Hey, I'm from the future. Because of my genius tendencies, I traveled back to the past. *insert a nervous chuckle* By the way, I'm your future Rokudaime Hokage, -ttebayo!'_

Really believable, Naruto.

And to put a long story into a sentence, he waited for the decision made in his cell. Inspecting the fungus with weird colours didn't interest him anymore. Would they buy his story? Would he be accepted into the Konoha shinobi rank? From what he could recall of his kind-hearted, smiling old man, he probably would. Sandaime Hokage didn't seem like a paranoid figure, unlike a specific blond...

A spark of certain person's chakra snapped him out of reverie. Recognition entered his eyes as he grinned. Naruto had always wanted to know what sort of person his father was… and now the chance surfaced, he'd not let it pass. "Hey, take you too long to come! I'm bored."

Minato mimicked the grin. "Sorry. Have enough with brooding in the corner?" his tone was good natured, but Naruto didn't miss the wary azure eyes on him.

"I'm not!" he retorted back, amused smile on his lips. "I just knew Konoha's Yellow Flash is in habit taunting people he barely knows," he chuckled at his own joke. "Well, when can I come out of this… 'thing'?"

Minato's stature didn't change, but the restrained smile immediately put Naruto on guard. _What game is he playing this time?_ He detested mind games like diseases, preferring straightforward approach. And this time was no different. It was irritating, making him feeling like wanting to go berserk and pull out a Namikaze Massacre again and again.

"Soon, Uzu-san. Hokage-sama decided you're welcome to Konoha shinobi rank. I, as the behalf of Sandaime Hokage congratulate Chuunin Uzu for his entering. May the will of fire illuminates your path. Although you'll be under constant surveillance for a month, you'll be all right if you behave. Behaviors deemed as suspicious won't be tolerated."

Naruto bit back a groan at the formality of the speech. He wouldn't be surprised if it had already been cited to other people thousand times. "Oh, all right. I think you're not supposed to tell me that?"

"You'll notice them," Minato referred to the 'spies', "anyway. If we don't tell you, it may raise distrust from your part. So we better off telling you."

"What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Minato pointed at himself, empathized his word. "You thereby will be my neighbor next door. And as a good living partner, I of course am fetching you." _'say hello to your scrutinizer'_

Shit. He didn't know what's worse, living next door with his parents (making him) or being under constant close watch by his own father. Judging from subtle frown marred Minato's face, which he learnt by now equivalent with other screaming for blood, he wasn't happy with the arrangement either. He just nodded dumbly, watching Minato opened the seal-laced door to his prison with cackling sound.

"Any question?"

"…" Naruto shook his head; he bit his lower lips as he was in deep thought. And if you forget, Thinking Naruto was problematic Naruto.

Minato reached into his pocket and withdrew a wallet, deactivating the seal with a flick of his hand before offering several bills. "Buy some clothes and food. That should be enough for a month. You can start doing missions to earn your own money when you get the clearance tomorrow."

* * *

"Your mission parameter is… to eliminate Uzu Hikaru."

Minato narrowed his eyes at the still smiling Hiruzen. The pacifist man brought a death sentence upon someone as if he was talking about weather. Iwa might perceive Minato as immoral, but he was absolutely against murdering designate fellow comrade without decent reasons. "But—"

"Don't worry, I'll place the Sannin as your back ups assuming he was beyond our expectation."

"Hokage-sama, what if he really is loyal to Konoha?"

"Minato-kun," Hiruzen began with a faraway look on his face. "You know I know that you know how inconvenient to have him among us, both politically and strategically. Letting him go isn't a choice, either. He may go to one of the five big countries but Konoha as retaliation to us. It's the only logical option we have."

As if he didn't know, Minato wanted to scream at the smiling face. But he kept his emotion under tight check, knowing his outburst wouldn't make Hiruzen suddenly infatuate all over his opinion. Hokage was the strongest person of the village. And if, just if this Hikaru could give a run for the Konoha's Yellow Flash's money, who was almost a match for the Densetsu no Sannin, he no doubt wouldn't give them sunshine-daisy and honey. His status as a stranger wouldn't help any. They needed a protective leader, not a questionable one with questionable loyalty and origin. "We can always determine whether he is trustworthy or not. Put him under two months of surveillance."

"You still have a long way to go, Minato-kun. Best spies are patient; they can wait for years to reach the objectives if the situation demands. They're also charming, talking people into traps and usually, appearing too normal to be suspected. So, do you want to help this old man or not?" they both knew he wasn't asking.

"Then if he was a spy, he was a terrible one," Minato pressed. He knew pushing his luck was like gambling, but right now he didn't care. "See how he piques many interests even before his objective is reached."

"He can always try to pique our interest in hope we think because he is conspicuous, he isn't a spy. I appreciate your thought, Minato. But I'm quite busy lately," _don't waste my time._

Minato bowed, "I apologize for my choice of word, Hokage-sama," he said carefully not apologizing for his protest earlier.

Hiruzen ignored the hint of treason Minato gave. "I sent a team of five jounin to protect a group of merchants heading Konoha two days ago," he said slowly, smirked at the confused look on Minato's face. He was certain he could hear the buzzing of the youth's brain overworked, trying to connect dots what Hiruzen tried to tell him. "Only one came back, Minato. I sent them to their death. Regardless, the sole survivor of the ambush reported someone with golden hair and ocean blue eyes, as how she put it, swept an entire Iwa troop with ease. She suspected it was the Konoha's Yellow Flash saving the day again," he came to a dramatic halt. "Yet we know otherwise, well?"

Minato remained silent. The message was clear. '_We can't risk thousands of innocent lives over a gamble. Kill the threat before problems happened.' _He knew Iwa's tactic like the back of his hand. The loss of one or two troops of minions was nothing if they could sneak a wolf among the sheep.

It was so naïve of him.

Hiruzen's eyes softened."Pick Hikaru Uzu up from his cells. From now on until the day of his elimination, he'll live next door to you. I trust no one was more suitable than you to do this, Minato. If he's as dangerous as what you reported, even ANBU won't do," again, that faraway look smeared across the not-so-wrinkle-free face. "Be careful. You're dismissed," _'don't get attached'_

"Sir," and Minato vanished into the thin air, leaving behind the Sandaime Hokage in deep thought. For the first time that day, a genuine smile touched his lips. Minato Namikaze… such an interesting young man. He could see the qualities of a leader within him; he was charming, the man of his words, and most importantly, never followed others' command too willingly. They didn't need a robotic leader; they needed a leader who could think on his or her own.

So… Namikaze or Orochimaru? His eyes flew to the piles of paper works and he inwardly groaned. Ah, retirement sounded very appealing.

Minato walked along the stone corridor half-heartily, ignoring the awe-struck guards and mock salutes given his way. Since the first time he saw this Uzu Hikaru, he knew 'it' or now 'he' would be one hell of headache. Interesting, yet nothing but trouble. Even from faraway, he could sense the huge amount of unsuppressed chakra, warm and soothing in some sort of strange sense. He doubted the 'it' had a single thread of malice within, but trouble meant trouble, however you pronounce it. The reactions this Uzu gave him was nothing he was used to; that look, a weird mix of hatred and… something else. Calling him a dead man, his dad, yondaime. He would do a double take had someone asked him acknowledging the sanity of Hikaru.

Don't misjudge Minato. Albeit his going against the Sandaime about his rather atrocious way to deal with this young man, it didn't necessarily mean he liked Hikaru on personal level. Hikaru was a weirdo, a dangerous one it was. Now Sandaime asked him to live next door with him; he couldn't imagine taking this Hikaru closer than 5 meters to his girlfriend.

He approached the crouching Hikaru from behind the cell quietly, and if a ninja said 'quietly' he or she meant 'real quietly'. He wasn't very surprised when Hikaru noticed his presence and looked up. A goofy grin plastered on the whiskered face. A very goofy grin that normal people would cringe at. '_What is he planning this time? Trying to make me drop my guard through underestimation?'_

"Hey, take you too long to come! I'm bored," Hikaru called out sulkily.

He wore his best grin in return. "Sorry. Have enough with brooding in the corner?" he teased. _Fine, if he wants to play this game, he'll go along._

"I'm not! I just knew Konoha's Yellow Flash is in habit taunting people he barely knows," Hikaru giggled at his own joke. "Well, when can I come out of this… 'thing'?"

A small twitch formed under Hikaru's eyes, who watched him back in equal wariness. Minato wondered briefly if he had read through Minato. He never knew he was that readable.

"Soon, Uzu-san. Hokage-sama decided you're welcome to Konoha shinobi rank. I, as the behalf of Sandaime Hokage congratulate Chuunin Uzu for his entering. May the will of fire illuminates your path. Although you'll be under constant surveillance for a month, you'll be all right if you behave," he lied through his teeth. "Behaviors deemed suspicious won't be tolerated."

He took a note of Hikaru's blank face when he recited the words.

"Oh, all right. I think you're not supposed to tell me that?" Hikaru asked. For a moment, panic dulled Minato's sense. '_Does he read through his lie?' _But he quickly brushed off the thought. Hikaru tone wasn't one of accusatory, just one tinted with childlike curiosity and wonder.

Come to think of it, this young man somehow maintained puppy eyes 24/7. Wasn't it what Sandaime said 'charming'?

"You'll notice them, anyway. If we don't tell you, it may raise distrust from your part. So we better off telling you."

Hikaru hummed an agreement. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? You thereby will be my neighbour next door," he said idly. He knew Sandaime meant no harm to him, but still, the idea of Kushina and his team meeting with this enigma was on the top of the list of 'worst ideas ever'. "And as a good living partner, I of course am fetching you."

"Any question?"

Hikaru shook his head and zoned out.

Minato reached into his pocket and withdrew a wallet, deactivating the seal with a flick of his hand before offering several bills. "Buy some clothes and food. That should be enough for a month. You can start doing missions to earn your own money when you get the clearance tomorrow."

He eyed the gleeful enigma, strangely feeling like murdering something, preferably whiskered things. '_Now what? Is he plotting to exploit his living next door with Konoha's Yellow Flash? Make a move, I dare you…'_

He later marveled if Hikaru did receive his telepathic message.

"Yeah! Let's replace my dearest, poor tattered jacket! Let's go!" Minato wondered if he was talking about that abominable orange colored… 'thing'. When he had become Hokage, he would ban the wearing of the color, no matter what Kushina said. What kind of parents in the world allowed their children wearing these? He'd personally strangle them and demand them not to procreate anymore.

* * *

Being a ninja came along with the skyrocketing paranoia level. Kushina spoke from her own experience. But as far as she concern, her current boyfriend was too paranoid for his own good. Though he never told her, she knew that he created the Hiraishin no jutsu because of that. He hated having someone behind him, thank you very much. He once said that the mere thought of it made his skin crawls. So, when one day Minato popped in their apartment with a doppelganger tagging along, she noted how not amused he was. That idiot.

The said doppelganger, in her humble opinion, could be Minato's long lost sibling or something along the line. Cept the whisker-like birthmark and jaw line, they were perfectly undistinguishable. Heck, they even had the same smile and quirks. She would be surprised if Minato didn't claim he, with the help of Orochimaru did clone himself. They were so cute together; she could not fathom why Minato glanced his way as if he would grow a second head or something.

"Kushina, this is Uzu Hikaru," he gesture the whiskered blond. Hikaru gave a sheepish smile her way, rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Uzu-san, this is Kushina Uzumaki."

Minato casted a glare Hikaru's way as if daring him to do something. She sighed inwardly, noted she needed to lecture him about hospitality. "Hi, Hikaru-kun. I've heard of you from Minato. Look, you two are soooo similar! So, join our dinner, would you?"

Minato gave a disapproving look, but kept smiling. "Please feel at home, Uzu-san. Consider this our welcoming party for you."

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed the younger blond into the house. This would be fun! Her grin widened, it had been a long time since the last time someone new visited their home. Making acquaintances was her specialty, and this mysterious doppelganger was no different. Perhaps she could coax him into playing pranks with her. Or planning rebellion on Minato Namikaze. She was just that awesome.

The whole team 7 greeted them in the dining room. They were sitting around the wooden table; Obito with sauce bespattered mouth, smirking at laughing Rin, Kakashi, with the face of someone who had being dragged all across the Konoha—he probably really had, stoic as ever chewing on his yakiniku, somehow with the mask attached all along. Honestly, only two people alive could claim ever seen through the mask, Sandaime Hokage and Minato. Sandaime because he was just that great, and Minato because he was the White Fang's close friend since ever.

Minato raised an eyebrow. "A big feast? What occasion I happen to forget it is?"

"You told me about Hikaru-kun last night. And, and! We just got the best idea ever: inviting him to a dinner -ttebane!" Kushina gave a peck on his cheek. "Come on, Mina-kun, just enjoy it!"

Minato shut his mouth afterwards.

Noticing the presence of Hikaru, Obito looked up. "Hey, that's him!" he grinned, amusement glinting in his eyes. "Told you, 'Kashi, he is just a shrimp!"

Kakashi just hummed indifferently, though keeping curious eyes on the newcomer when he thought they weren't looking.

Hikaru's body stiffened Kushina momentarily wondered what he was going to do. Her heart almost leapt to her throat when Hikaru, in a blink of eyes crossed the room and stood before Obito. She just froze, while Minato looked like ready to jump on Hikaru anytime. Damn, one thing into the similarity list: inhuman speed. Kakashi turned from his food, Rin stopped laughing, while Obito just sat, challenging him to do something.

"Take that back, brat. Pipsqueak like you has no right to comment my coolness," he demanded. "I'm going to be the kage, -ttebayo!"

A mark tick appeared on Obito's forehead. He wiped his mouth in the 'cool' way, before said, "Not before I become the Lord Uchiha Hokage-sama, shrimp."

Hikaru tucked his arms in front of his chest, eyes narrowed at the raven. "A finger," he said, quoting Tsunade-baachan. "I just need a finger to beat you. Hell, even with both hands tied at my back, I can beat crap out your ass."

Meeting his mother, the one who was real was emotionally exhausting experience. Not that mother he met back then in his mindscape was any less real. But this one was breathing, touchable, lingering. She wouldn't vanish into the thin air. He could savor every moment with her; every smile, every laughter, everything as much as he wanted. The roller coaster of feeling these days began to be uncontrollable. He wondered how come he manages not to run into her embrace, clutching to her legs and sobbing._ 'This is Naruto, Mom! Your son!'_

But this reunion with Obito Uchiha was the last straw. From the time he saw him, something acidic burned in his stomach. Something hot, like a thin thread of fury stretched and snapped in his chest. Flash of memories, all unpleasant and ugly, replayed in his mind, through and through. Those empty eyes, stared straight through his soul. Accusing. As if telling him it should have been him decomposing there. '_Your fault! YoUr FaUlT! YOUR FAULT!' _The voice of the death, full of agony echoed in his ear. _If only we had handed you over to the Uchiha, instead of protecting you from him, we should be alive. 'You should be dead, dead, DEAD. Monster. Die.'_ He had to keep his killing intent under control, knowing Minato wouldn't be happy about it. Murdering one's student wasn't an advisable way to impress him anyway. He sped to the Uchiha. It wasn't the cheeky remark; it wasn't the peculiar traits shared among Uchiha. It wasn't the onyx eyes gazed through him that ticked him off. He was this near to his parents' murderer, the robber of his happy, normal life. Just a movement and that neck snapped. Or with his wind affinity tearing through that chest, squashed that thumping heart to pulp of red. The bastard who indirectly was the cause of Jiraiya's death, Neji, Asuma, Itachi, Sasuke… he was this close, this vulnerable. This fragile.

His fist clenched and unclenched, drawing a tickle of blood. But he didn't give a second thought about it. All was hatred, revenge, kill, kill, kill, KILL! Just dispose of this wretch. World be damned, he didn't care anymore. He just got his alive mom and dad back; there was no way in the hell he'd lose them, again. Even if he had to vanish, even if those azure eyes had to burn with rage and disgust at him. Nothing matter anymore if getting his mother back is a choice. Hell, his 'present' didn't sound as precious as his most beloved. In all of this chaos, he absently thought if this was – would be what Itachi felt back then, when he was given the choices; the village or the clan or the one, only one who looked up at him with adoration and unconditional love. Even when that love replaced with hatred, when the laughter and the smile became growl and curses, the love was still there, growing.

A swish of wind behind his head jerked him out his reverie, he tensed, but instantly relaxed. It was just Kushina. He let her slapped his head along with Obito's. "Guys, if you want to pick a fight, get out of my kitchen!"

He groaned, rubbing the painful part of his head. He began to regret his decision letting her assault his dear head. The redhead really lived up to her moniker, to his pride and misery. "Don't be mean, Kushina-san!" he whined, but threw her a grateful smile for inviting him to the table.

Hikaru was seated between Rin and Minato. Before Kushina, who seemed eager to befriend him could take the empty seat beside Hikaru, Minato flashed there and sat down, claiming that he wished to know about Hikaru more. That paranoid bastard. Kushina gagged Minato with an ear-murdering lecture, but grudgingly let her chance to socialize waste away. The redhead introduced him to the cute little genin and chuunin before they dug into their food.

From his peripheral view, he watched Obito's goggle cackling opened, and the raven rubbed his eyes furiously. He was shedding tears, Hikaru realized.

For the first time, he didn't see a parents' murderer. A bitter man wallowing in self-pity who killed people in cold blood. He saw a kid, barely a teenager struggling through war-torn childhood. A child who couldn't even kill a fly without reasons.

Shame.

It was stupid of him, expecting someone to come out of his mother's womb with the knack for massacring people. Hell, Obito had yet done anything stupid. What he had done to Obito kid was, he noticed uncomfortably, the same thing with that of the villagers, seeing someone for who he wasn't. He was so stupid that he would let Obito drown him in a river. Not that he would tell that Uchiha.

The question was, did he bother changing the kid? He wasn't God. He was no more than the spectacle of replaying history. Didn't he himself think that it was reckless of him, changing things? Even as an adult, Hikaru had the difficulty _not _to save everyone by himself. Itachi once commented it. But…

His musing was interrupted by the sound of someone slurping Kushina's favorite food, ramen. If anyone ask, her definition of special dinner was ramen, ramen, and ramen. He turned to meet Obito's eyes behind the lenses, metaphorical flame burnt bright in them.

He by now literally inhaled his food, somehow managing never stain the table sheet with even a tint of soup. Obito took this as a challenge, followed his action. Kakashi just stared with a mixture of awe and disgust as bowl to bowl of ramen disappeared into the bottomless stomachs. Hikaru noticed the hypnotized onyx eye on him, dragging the stoic boy into this little competition. Rin couldn't believe when the taunts 'coward pretty boy' and 'scared of risking exposing your girly face' immediately set the game on. Hey, who say that teenager-like Kakashi wasn't cool, too?

"Hey, Obito-kun," Hikaru called, mouth full of food Rin cringed at. Not Kushina, because she to ramen always do the same. Not Minato, because he needed to use to the manner if he didn't want to starve to die.

The said raven fixed him a glare. "What?"

"You see… I'm a Ninjutsu master," Kakashi stopped chewing, silently eavesdropping the exchange. He had always wanted to be one like Hikaru claimed to be, away from his father's shadow. If the White Fang was well-known for his kenjutsu, then he would be renowned for ninjutsu mastery. He even had the basic concept of his first original jutsu. Just a little bit changes here and there, he thought, and the assassination jutsu would be complete. Perhaps Hikaru could help him. His sense of fashion and manners was quite debatable. But weren't the strongest nin the most eccentric among all? Jiraiya of the sannin, the author of Make Out Series was the living epitome of that. "Uchiha usually has fire affinity, right? How about me teaching you a very cool fire element jutsu?"

Obito's eyes twinkled like the star and the moon, all previous grudges were forgotten. But he had the decency to throw questioning eyes to his sensei, asking for approval.

"That's very nice of you, Uzu-san," Minato put his spoon down. The sight was very domestic Hikaru wanted to burst into tears. His dad and mom were in the same room with him! "May I know the name of the jutsu?" '_no, thank you. I would do fine without your interference.'_

A small frown reached his features. Hikaru didn't know what he had done wrong (except thinking of ending the life of Minato's student. It didn't count, he hadn't applied it real world yet), his father seemed to treat him like a ticking time bomb. He had to change it somehow."Don't worry, it's my original defensive B-ranked ninjutsu. Challenging and useful to learn!"

"Really? Really? What does it do? Fry a whole forest? Burn an entire squadron of nin to ash? Come on!" Obito swallowed his remained food like cows did their grass, eager to start their training.

"I think Uzu-san said it is a defensive jutsu," Kakashi piped in.

"I know!"

"No, you don't. As a shinobi, you should be ashamed of your inattentiveness. You might as well cause injury to death of your comrades by it."

Hikaru eyed little Kakashi strangely, finding it hard to connect this rule-freak, aloof preteen with that nonchalant sensei with devil-may-care attitude he was accustomed to. One trait they mutually shared though, was their tendencies to speak of sensitive topics as if talking about dinner over a cup of sake. Oh, and the mask, too. It was then the realisation hit him: Kakashi was envious of Obito. Kakashi Hatake, the nin of thousands jutsu was jealous of his teammate due to a childish want to learn a jutsu! The childishness level was too high he never thought of the possibility before. Childishness and Kakashi just didn't sound right in the same sentence. When he got back, Kakashi would never hear the end of it.

Ah, the luxury of blackmailing.

"Kakashi, if you really want to learn a jutsu too, you just need to ask, you know," he said, with great effort to manage a blank face.

The Cyclops blushed beet red, "I—" he was cut by Hikaru ruffling his hair, making his blush a shade deeper. But he didn't slap the hand off. He never noticed Rin snickered in the background while Obito looked perplexed. It needed talent to tear through that annoying façade of the Hatake. And Hikaru just did it with ease!

"All right, brats!" Obito pouted, "Tomorrow we're gonna receive the training of the hell!"

Minato sipped from his cup. "I think you need to delay your training of the hell, as how you put it," he said, placidly killed the joy of two preteens.

"Eehh…? Why? I need to get stronger soon!" Obito hopped onto his feet. "Like this! Or this!" he punched imaginary Iwa nin, empathized his point. Weirdly, all the imaginary enemies were Kakashi's way. While Kakashi just sat, frown marred his visible features. It wasn't everyday a ninjutsu master popped and declared he or she was going to teach them original jutsu.

"Sorry, Kakashi, Obito. Uzu-san here –" Hikaru protested how Minato made him sound old, "Hikaru-san is going to have a psychology check to get a clearance for active duty. How about another five days?"

A loud bang saved Minato from explaining a page worth of lecture about why Hikaru Uzu, the self-proclaimed ninjutsu master couldn't beat their asses to ground by the morrow. Obito yelped, fell onto the floor, while the other just looked mildly curious. Whatever it was, it broke a pandemonium on the dining table, that undoubtly had seen better days. Plates, spoon, chopsticks fell onto the ground with a clanking, to Kushina's wrath. Hikaru and Minato glanced at Kushina, who looked ready to kill someone, preferably on a dining table.

"Ouch," it groaned, stroking its disarrayed raven hair. Never noticing the growing killing intent from Kushina, it clumsily landed on the floor. "Minato-sama! I finally graduated from the academy. What do you say? Shunshin no jutsu is cool!"

Obito looked hysteric, pointing at the intruder. "Shisui! What are you doing here?"

"Obito-san," Shisui acknowledged mildly, shifting from mad boy mode to 'all-prodigy-style' in a blink of eye. The Uchiha prodigy and Obito weren't a close friend, after all. "My presence here is to inform your sensei," he spat the word 'your sensei' as if just swallowed a whole lemon, "about my academy graduation this morning."

"No, I mean…"

A creepy smiled Kushina approached the Uchiha prodigy slowly, who suddenly feeling like a cornered mouse. That moment, a shriek echoed in the entire village, babies cried, and men shivered. A few pummeling and broken walls later, the dining table was no more than pieces of woods, while Shisui nursed a broken nose and moaned what suspiciously sounded like 'violent girlfriend' and 'miserable life'. Kushina hummed cheerfully, picking up the plates and spoons and wasted food to the kitchen.

The flowing water down the sinking was heard not long after, to everyone's relief. Shisui glanced at Minato sheepishly, gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Minato-sama. I didn't know I'll land on your dining table. My Shunshin no jutsu is still faulty. What can I do for you to pay your broken table?"

"Don't worry about it, Shisui-kun. It's no one's fault," Minato assured the boy, who didn't look assured at all. "That's a very impressive display of Shunshi no jutsu, by the way," Shisui blushed at the compliment, thanking Minato over and over. Hikaru wondered what kind of relationship they had, and what had Minato done to get Shisui no Shunshin's boyish idolization. He often heard the name from Itachi, but seeing the real one was different. He just knew that famed Uchiha was literally a slave to Minato. He dared to bet the Shodai's necklace, if Minato asked the boy to strip down to his birthday suit, running through Konoha's main street singing 'Aloha Oe', Shisui would more than happy to obey.

No wonder Shisui was that loyal to Konoha.

"It's nothing. My sensei was so lazy that he taught us the jutsu, in hope, he wouldn't need to walk us home," Shisui mouthed 'Nara', to Hikaru's amusement.

"Typical Nara," Hikaru commented. At the 'well-well-well' look on Minato's face, he blinked. "What? Nara's laziness is quite infamous out there, you know."

The pummeled boy faced him for the first time; eyes analytically assessed Hikaru as if he was a bacterium under a microscope. "Hey, are you Minato-sama's sibling? Twin? Clone? Kagebunshin? Coincidence? It's cool! No, no. Who are you?"

The curious onyx eyes never left him he had to fight the urge to look away. There was a kind of intensity in them, burning. If Shisui had activated his Sharingan, he'd have interpreted the knowing look as 'ALERT, YOU'RE CAUGHT RED HANDED.' "It's Hikaru Uzu. And no, I have no blood relation with Minato."

Shisui tilted his head in a manner sooo similar with Sasuke's. "Really? That's cool! Natural blond hair is rare, you know? At least in Konoha," his face crunched into one full of confusion. "But you're lying."

Lying about what? His name? His blood relation?

Minato, who had been eavesdropping, said. "What do you mean—"

"Pudding time, everyone!" Kushina's cheerful announcement interrupted whatever Minato was about to say. "Put your silly asses on the chairs now else I'll make you! You too, Shisui!"

Kushina and Obito's laughter chorused as the night drew nearer. Rin giggled to herself while Kakashi's lips twitched from behind his mask, which was equivalent to a mad laughter to normal people. And Shisui just silently ate his chocolate pudding, observing the way they interacted. Hikaru blithely chastised his exaggerated story of his first time meeting Minato in the wood, while Minato occasionally adding some missing points here and there.

"So," Kushina managed to say between her laughter, clutching her hurting stomach as if her life was clinging on it, "You thought Minato was your father because of the eerie resemblances? That's hilarious!" and she broke into a braid of laughter once more. "Minato, daddy! That's unheard of. I like you already, Hikaru-kun!"

"Minato-sensei, that's very coward of you! Taking advantage of Hikaru when he reminisce his late-father! Sorry, Hikaru, no offense."

"Wasn't that Hikaru-san's fault? Letting emotion getting in the way was dangerous. Not obeying the rule was a fallacy, I told you."

"Kakashi! Didn't you have compassion at all?"

"Quit it boys! Talking about Hikaru-san's past in front of him is rude. You need to apologize."

"Sorry, Hikaru! I didn't mean to! Here, ice cream?"

Hikaru just grinned, a warm feeling spread through his chest. His mother was so beautiful, with the waist long red hair and contagious smile, albeit a bit tomboyish. He stared at her, trying to memorize every single feature on the face. He could stay right there forever if possible. Even Minato looked quite relaxed, if we 'forget' the wary glances he occasionally casted Hikaru's way.

_'We'll talk about THAT later',_ the azure eyes said.

When they went respective homes, all he remembered were his mother's smile and his promise to the brats.

Perhaps things weren't that bad, after all.

Now… what should he say to Minato?

* * *

**A/n: Uh, I'm sorry if Kushina has a rather bitchy reaction over the wasted food. Remember, she is a refugee from a broken country. Unlike the clan brats, she of course knew the devastation called 'famishing'. **

**Ps: Before you ask, Minato who felt that Hikaru 'doesn't have malicious intent' and Minato who thought Hikaru 'is dangerous wild card' ARE different. As a logic person, Minato tends to follow his brain rather than his heart. Proof is, he sealed a demon into his own son. Did he like it? Proud of his achievement? Nope.**

**Well, or so I think.**

**All right, a nice afternoon all!**

**Ja ne!**


End file.
